It is later revealed in "Army of Ghosts" that the Torchwood Institute has begun to use their findings to restore the British Empire to its former glory.

[6] There appears to have been some rapport with the Prime Minister,[6] although it is noted by Harriet Jones in "The Christmas Invasion" that she is not meant to know the existence of Torchwood.

[1][8] Torchwood maintains this illusion by using false witnesses,[9] or by sectioning any journalists who threaten to expose the truth,[10] and via the use of memory-altering drugs.

[16] While staying at Torchwood House, the Scottish estate of Sir Robert MacLeish, the Queen (Pauline Collins) was attacked by a werewolf, in reality an alien intelligence that planned to infect her with its consciousness by biting her.

[20] As shown in the episode "Fragments", Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) came to the attention of Torchwood Three in 1899, due to visiting the rift and talking about the Doctor.

Captured by two Torchwood agents—Alice Guppy (Amy Manson) and Emily Holroyd (Heather Craney)–Jack was subjected to torture and interrogation regarding the Doctor before being put to work for the Institute as a freelance agent for over a century.

"[21] Some insights into the World War I-era organisation (such as their progressive policies regarding women's civil rights) were offered in Torchwood episode "To the Last Man".

[22] In 1965, agent Jack Harkness was elected on behalf of the institute (along with representatives of different government agencies) to facilitate the sacrifice of twelve children to aliens known as the 456 to save the planet at large.

Over the next few years, Jack recruited his own team; Suzie Costello (Indira Varma), Toshiko Sato (Naoko Mori) and Dr. Owen Harper (Burn Gorman).

However, Jones did know about its existence anyway, and ordered Major Richard Blake (Chu Omambala) of UNIT to prepare Torchwood for the impending arrival of the Sycorax on Christmas Day.

[7] On the command of Prime Minister Harriet Jones, Torchwood used the Jathaa sunglider weapon to destroy a Sycorax ship on Christmas Day 2006.

[2][11] At this time, Torchwood operated software which blocked access to Internet searches about UFO activity ("School Reunion").

However, the void ship had nothing to do with the Cybermen and had in fact been created by the Daleks (voiced by Nicholas Briggs), four of whom had used it to escape the Time War.

In the wake of these events, referred to as the "Battle of Canary Wharf", the Institute feels it must "learn by heart" a lesson about its own arrogance.

In "The Runaway Bride", it is revealed that the London-based security firm "H. C. Clements" (which employed secretary Donna Noble (Catherine Tate), who inexplicably materialised in the TARDIS just as she was about to get married) was a front company for the Torchwood Institute.

[24] On a restricted basement level of the company situated beneath the Thames Barrier was a secret laboratory which the Institute used to recreate ancient "Huon particles".

Over a period of months, H. C. Clements' Human Resources Manager, Lance Bennett (Don Gilet), had courted and poisoned Donna with Huon particles, intending to sacrifice her to the Empress of the Racnoss (Sarah Parish).

It would appear that Lance was not acting on behalf of the institute, and the lab was in disuse since the Battle of Canary Wharf and the Queen's official closure of Torchwood One.

This team worked together until later the same year, when the hiring of policewoman Gwen Cooper (Eve Myles) coincided with the suicide of second-in-command Suzie Costello.

Although they were incapacitated in the main battle, thanks to a time lock created by Tosh some time earlier that prevented them from escaping the Hub, Torchwood Three made a contribution to the Earth's return to the Solar System by putting a lasso of temporal energy around the Earth with the help of K-9 (voiced by John Leeson) and Mr Smith (voiced by Alexander Armstrong), allowing the planet to be towed by the TARDIS.

However, Home Office Permanent Secretary John Frobisher (Peter Capaldi) ordered the assassination of remaining Torchwood agents Harkness, Cooper and Jones to cover up the UK's history with the aliens.

[citation needed] The radio drama "Asylum" also suggests that Torchwood might gain control over the Rift in the near future, using it to send a half-alien girl back to the present day.

[citation needed] In the 42nd century, the Torchwood Archives sent a group of explorers to investigate a mysterious power source that kept a planet in stable orbit around a black hole.

Prior to "Army of Ghosts", a group led by Pete Tyler (and including Jake Simmonds and Mickey Smith), which worked for the alternate world's People's Republic, took over the parallel Earth Torchwood.

[11] From this accelerated parallel universe, Rose's Torchwood becomes aware of "the darkness" causing the stars to go out, mentioned in the episode "Journey's End", and returns in "Turn Left" and "The Stolen Earth" to defend London and find the Doctor in his reality.

The beam which destroyed the Sycorax ship was fired from five different locations around London, suggesting a number of properties are owned by Torchwood One in the area.

[1] In the novel The Twilight Streets (set in February 2008), Jack contacts the "very strange man" whose name is revealed as Archie, and Torchwood Two's headquarters are near the River Clyde.

Some notable employees include: Whilst the Institute officially disbanded after the events of Children of Earth, Jack and Gwen work with several individuals from the United States to solve the Miracle Day phenomenon.